Digital Minds scans job applicant emails to assess cultural 'fit'

A personality assessment product by Finnish company Digital Minds that enabled potential employers to scan the private emails and social media posts of job applicants to determine whether they would be a good fit for their prospective employer sparked concerns about abuse of privacy and confidentiality.

Founded by two psychologists, Digital Minds said it aimed to develop 'third-generation' assessment technology for employee recruitment. However, an investigation by Finnish broadcaster YLE revealed that the Finnish Data Protection Ombudsperson suspected the personality assessment violated the country's Labour Privacy Act, which states that information must be collected with jobseeker consent and that personal emails are protected under the country;s confidentiality laws.

The investigation also found that very few jobseekers had agreed to participate in Digital Mind’s analysis of their social media posts, and only one had agreed to participate in the analysis of email correspondence, suggesting the company's marketing had been misleading. Digital Minds closed shortly after the investigation was published. 

Research, advovacy

• EDRi (2020). Use cases: Impermissible AI and fundamental rights breaches (pdf)

• EQUINET (2020). REGULATING FOR AN EQUAL AI: A NEW ROLE FOR EQUALITY BODIES (pdf)

• AlgorithmWatch (2020). Automating Society 2020 (pdf)

• Stein J-P., Markus Appel M., Jost A., Ohler P. (2020). Matter Over Mind? How the Acceptance of Digital Entities Depends on Their Appearance, Mental Prowess, and the Interaction Between Both

News, commentary, analysis

• https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10798074

• https://algorithmwatch.org/en/controversial-service-that-ranked-job-seekers-based-on-personal-emails-folds-following-algorithmwatch-investigation/

• https://www.politico.eu/article/resist-robot-takeover-artificial-intelligence-digital-minds-email-tool/